Ad-hoc wireless sensor package

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, computer-readable storage mediums including computer-readable instructions and/or circuitry for control of transmission to a target device with communicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network may implement operations including, but not limited to: receiving one or more wireless signals associated with a sensing capability status of at least one sensor; wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according to the sensing capability status of the at least one sensor; and at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of the at least one sensor and charging one or more power storage devices of the at least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

If an Application Data Sheet (ADS) has been filed on the filing date ofthis application, it is incorporated by reference herein. Anyapplications claimed on the ADS for priority under 35 U.S.C. §§119, 120,121, or 365(c), and any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of such applications, are also incorporated byreference, including any priority claims made in those applications andany material incorporated by reference, to the extent such subjectmatter is not inconsistent herewith.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and/or claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Priority Applications”), if any, listed below(e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other thanprovisional patent applications or claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e)for provisional patent applications, for any and all parent,grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the PriorityApplication(s)). In addition, the present application is related to the“Related Applications,” if any, listed below.

PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/727,102, entitled AD-HOC WIRELESS SENSORPACKAGE, naming JESSE R. CHEATHAM, III, MATTHEW G. DYOR, PETER N.GLASKOWSKY, KIMBERLY D. A. HALLMAN, RODERICK A. HYDE, MURIEL Y.ISHIKAWA, EDWARD K. Y. JUNG, MICHAEL F. KOENIG, ROBERT W. LORD, RICHARDT. LORD, CRAIG J. MUNDIE, NATHAN P. MYHRVOLD, ROBERT C. PETROSKI, DESNEYS. TAN, AND LOWELL L. WOOD, JR. as inventors, filed Dec. 26, 2012, whichis currently co-pending or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/727,109, entitled AD-HOC WIRELESS SENSORPACKAGE, naming JESSE R. CHEATHAM, III, MATTHEW G. DYOR, PETER N.GLASKOWSKY, KIMBERLY D. A. HALLMAN, RODERICK A. HYDE, MURIEL Y.ISHIKAWA, EDWARD K. Y. JUNG, MICHAEL F. KOENIG, ROBERT W. LORD, RICHARDT. LORD, CRAIG J. MUNDIE, NATHAN P. MYHRVOLD, ROBERT C. PETROSKI, DESNEYS. TAN, AND LOWELL L. WOOD, JR. as inventors, filed Dec. 26, 2012, whichis currently co-pending or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/727,117, entitled AD-HOC WIRELESS SENSORPACKAGE, naming JESSE R. CHEATHAM, III, MATTHEW G. DYOR, PETER N.GLASKOWSKY, KIMBERLY D. A. HALLMAN, RODERICK A. HYDE, MURIEL Y.ISHIKAWA, EDWARD K. Y. JUNG, MICHAEL F. KOENIG, ROBERT W. LORD, RICHARDT. LORD, CRAIG J. MUNDIE, NATHAN P. MYHRVOLD, ROBERT C. PETROSKI, DESNEYS. TAN, AND LOWELL L. WOOD, JR. as inventors, filed Dec. 26, 2012, whichis currently co-pending or is an application of which a currentlyco-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parentapplication. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTOOfficial Gazette Mar. 18, 2003. The USPTO further has provided forms forthe Application Data Sheet which allow automatic loading ofbibliographic data but which require identification of each applicationas a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional of a parentapplication. The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) hasprovided above a specific reference to the application(s) from whichpriority is being claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understandsthat the statute is unambiguous in its specific reference language anddoes not require either a serial number or any characterization, such as“continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S.patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicantunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence Applicant has provided designation(s) of arelationship between the present application and its parentapplication(s) as set forth above and in any ADS filed in thisapplication, but expressly points out that such designation(s) are notto be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission asto whether or not the present application contains any new matter inaddition to the matter of its parent application(s).

If the listings of applications provided above are inconsistent with thelistings provided via an ADS, it is the intent of the Applicant to claimpriority to each application that appears in the Priority Applicationssection of the ADS and to each application that appears in the PriorityApplications section of this application.

All subject matter of the Priority Applications and the RelatedApplications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Priority Applications and the RelatedApplications, including any priority claims, is incorporated herein byreference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistentherewith.

SUMMARY

Systems, methods, computer-readable storage mediums includingcomputer-readable instructions and/or circuitry for control oftransmission to a target device with communicating with one or moresensors in an ad-hoc sensor network may implement operations including,but not limited to: wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operationactivation signals to one or more sensors according to the sensingcapability status of the at least one sensor; and at least one ofpowering one or more sensing operations of the at least one sensor andcharging one or more power storage devices of the at least one sensorvia the one or more sensor operation activation signals.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a high-level block diagram of an operational environmentcommunicating with one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network.

FIG. 2 shows a high-level block diagram of a system for communicatingwith one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network.

FIG. 3 shows a high-level block diagram of a system for communicatingwith one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network.

FIG. 4A shows a high-level block diagram of a system for communicatingwith one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network.

FIG. 4B shows a high-level block diagram of a system for communicatingwith one or more sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network.

FIGS. 5-21 show operations for communicating with one or more sensors inan ad-hoc sensor network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 illustrates an ad hoc sensor system 100 disposed about a region101. The ad hoc sensor system 100 may include one or more sensors 102and one or more sensor monitoring devices 103. The sensors 102 may besimple single or limited-purpose sensors configured for monitoring oneor more characteristics of an environment. For example, the sensors 102may be thermal sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, image capturesensors, audio sensors, electromagnetic sensors, and the like,configured for monitoring of the region 101 and/or one or more items 104(e.g. machines, people, products, and the like) located within theregion 101. The sensors may be affixed to any surface within the region101 via various means. In one embodiment, the sensors 102 may include anadhesive composition capable of adhering to a surface within the region101. More specifically, the adhesive composition may be amoisture-activated adhesive such that a user may apply a liquid (e.g.water or saliva) to the adhesive composition thereby activating theadhesive and allowing for disposal of the sensor 102 on a surface.

A sensor monitoring device 103 may serve to provide a communicationslink between the sensors 102 and one or more processing devices 105(e.g. a cell phone 105A, a tablet computer 105B, a laptop computer 105C,a desktop computer 105D, and the like and/or a cloud-based network 106running an application accessible by such devices) which may receivedata from the sensors 102 and provide that data to a user 107 monitoringthe region 101 and/or the items 104. The sensor monitoring devices 103may be pluggable (e.g. configured to be received within or to receive)with respect to one or more standard environmental devices (e.g. astandard 110-volt wall outlet-pluggable sensor monitoring device 103A, astandard 60-watt light socket-pluggable sensor monitoring device 103B,and the like) such that the region 101 may be easily retrofitted toemploy the ad hoc sensor system 100 by incorporating the sensormonitoring devices 103 into pre-existing power supplies.

Referring to FIG. 2, the sensor monitoring devices 103 may be configuredto scan (e.g. a grid scan) the region 101 and detect the locations ofone or more sensors 102 within the region 101. Such scanningcapabilities allow the sensors 102 to be arbitrarily arranged about theregion 101 without regard to relative orientations of the sensors 102and the sensor monitoring devices 103 by a user having limited trainingwith respect to operation of the ad hoc sensor system 100. Such locationdetection of the sensors 102 may serve to optimize communications withthe sensors 102 in that communications signals may be wirelesslytransmitted to and received from the sensors 102 in an at leastpartially targeted manner (e.g. via a configurable directional antenna)so as to avoid unnecessary power consumption associated with a fullbroadcast mode to portions of the region 101 not containing sensors 102.In an exemplary embodiment, a sensor 102 may include at least onepassive identification mechanism 108 (e.g. a mechanism operating only inresponse to an environmental stimulus such as a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) chip, a retro-reflector, a micro electromechanicalsystem (MEMS) device, and the like) which, upon irradiation of thesensor 102 by, for example, a sensor acquisition signal 109 wirelesslytransmitted by a sensor acquisition transceiver 110 (e.g. a radiotransceiver, a microwave transceiver, an infrared transceiver, anoptical/laser transceiver, and the like) of a sensor monitoring device103, the sensor 102 may wirelessly transmit an identification signal 111indicative of the presence of the sensor 102 within the region 101. Forexample, the passive identification mechanism 108 may include a MEMSdevice configured to receive the sensor acquisition signal 109, modulatethat sensor acquisition signal 109 and retransmit the modulated sensoracquisition signal 109 as the identification signal 111.

The identification signal 111 may simply be a beacon-type signal thatsimply indicates the presence of a sensor 102 within the currentlyscanned region (e.g. where the passive identification mechanism 108 ismerely a reflective surface on the sensor 102). Alternately theidentification signal 111 may include data associated with the sensor102 and stored by the passive identification mechanism 108 (e.g. as anRFID chip). For example, the identification signal 111 may encode dataassociated with a sensor-type (e.g. thermal, pressure, motion, image,audio, electromagnetic, and the like) of the sensor 102, sensoroperation requirements (e.g. operating power levels, power storagecharge times, and the like), and the like.

In another embodiment, the passive identification mechanism 108 mayprovide the identification signal 111 independent of any interactionwith the sensor monitoring device 103. For example, the sensor 102 mayinclude a transducer 112 responsive to an independent signal source 113(e.g. a flashlight, handheld UV light, and the like). The transducer 112may convert a signal (e.g. light) from the independent signal source 113into power sufficient to power the passive identification mechanism 108to generate the identification signal 111 for transmission to the sensormonitoring device 103. As such, a user tasked with affixing one or moresensors 102 about the region 101 may, at the same time, temporarilyactivate the passive identification mechanism 108 via the independentsignal source 113 to allow for initial acquisition of the sensor 102 bythe sensor monitoring device 103. It may be the case that the sensormonitoring device 103 is continually monitoring the region 101 and maydetect the presence of the sensor 102 within the temporary activation ofthe passive identification mechanism 108 via the independent signalsource 113.

The sensor monitoring device 103 may scan the region 101 in a zonalmanner whereby the sensor acquisition transceiver 110 is progressivelydirected to various portions of the region 101 and transmits the sensoracquisition signal 109. Upon detection of a presence of a sensor 102within a portion of the region 101 currently subject to scanning throughreceipt of the identification signal 111, the sensor acquisitiontransceiver 110 may provide a signal 114 to sensor location detectionlogic 115 of the sensor monitoring device 103. The sensor locationdetection logic 115 may, in turn, correlate the portion of the region101 currently subject to scanning (e.g. via data associated with acurrent orientation of one or more control actuators and/or adirectional antenna associated with the sensor acquisition transceiver110) with a detected sensor 102 and store sensor location data 116associated with that portion of the region 101 to a sensor locationdatabase 117. In one embodiment, the sensor acquisition transceiver 110may scan along a first axis (e.g. an x-axis) and then scan along asecond axis (e.g. a y-axis).

Further, it may be the case that line-of-sight issues with respect tothe relative orientations of the sensors 102, sensor monitoring device103 and any intervening items 104 may exist within the region 101. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, an item 104 may be disposed between asensor monitoring device 103 (e.g. sensor monitoring device 103A) and asensor 102 (e.g. sensor 102A). As such, the ad hoc sensor system 100 mayfurther include one or more at least partially reflective surfaces 118(e.g. mirrors, electro-optical lenses, light guides, and the like). Thereflective surfaces 118 may serve to remedy the line-of-sight issues fora given sensor 102 by providing an alternate signal path between asensor monitoring device 103 and a sensor 102. The reflective surfaces118 may be simple static structures such as mirrors or prisms.Alternately, the reflective surfaces 118 may be controllable structures(e.g. via a control signal generated by the sensor monitoring device103) such that the physical orientation and/or electro-opticalproperties of a reflective surface 118 may be modified during a sensorlocation acquisition scan by the sensor monitoring device 103 of theportion of the region 101 including the reflective surface 118 such thatthe effective scanning area of the sensor monitoring device 103 mayinclude portions of the region 101 which are otherwise restricted due toline-of-sight issues.

In an alternate embodiment, the ad hoc sensor system 100 may include atleast one mobile robotic device configured to traverse the region 101(e.g. a repurposed robotic device such as a Roomba® product manufacturedby iRobot of Bedford, Mass.). The mobile robotic device may includesensor monitoring device 103 and/or a reflective surface 118 which maybe targeted by another sensor monitoring device 103. The mobile roboticdevice may traverse the region 101 and conduct acquisition and oractivation operations with respect to the sensors 102 as describedabove.

The sensors 102 may be configured as passive sensors with no on-boardpower source for conducting sensing (e.g. thermal, pressure, motion,image, audio, electromagnetic, and the like) operations. As such, thesensor monitoring device 103 may include a sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 having a relatively higher power signal (e.g. ascompared to the power requirements of the sensor acquisition signal 109of the sensor acquisition transceiver 110) configured for wirelesslytransmitting a sensor operation activation signal 120 (e.g. an infrared,optical, ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and the like) to the sensors 102. Thesensors 102 may include a power transducer 121 configured to convert thesensor operation activation signal 120 into electrical or optical power122 usable by sensing element 123 (e.g. electrical circuitry,micro-electromechanical system devices, and the like) configured tocarry out the desired sensing operations. Following sensing operationsby the sensing element 123, sensor data 124 may be transmitted to asensor data transceiver 125 of the sensor monitoring device 103 which,in turn may transmit the sensor data 124 on to the processing devices105 for further data analysis and review by a user.

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and NationalTelecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are endowedwith authority to allocate and regulate various communicationsfrequencies. Further, the FCC has established standards for exposurelimits (e.g. Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) levels; See “EvaluatingCompliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to RadiofrequencyElectromagnetic Fields,” Federal Communications Commission Office ofEngineering & Technology, OET Bulletin 65, Edition 97-01 (August 1997))for various frequency ranges (e.g. 0.3 to 100,000 MHz) foroccupational/controlled exposure as well as generalpopulation/uncontrolled exposures. Such standards are defined in termsof electric field and magnetic field strength as well as power density.Occupational/controlled limits apply in situations in which persons areexposed as a consequence of their employment provided those persons arefully aware of the potential for exposure and can exercise control overtheir exposure. Limits for occupational/controlled exposure also applyin situations when an individual is transient through a location whereoccupational/controlled limits apply provided he or she is made aware ofthe potential for exposure. General population/uncontrolled exposuresapply in situations in which the general public may be exposed, or inwhich persons that are exposed as a consequence of their employment maynot be fully aware of the potential for exposure or cannot exercisecontrol over their exposure.

Further, the FCC has adopted limits for safe exposure to radiofrequency(RF) energy. These limits are given in terms of a unit referred to asthe Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which is a measure of the amount ofradio frequency energy absorbed by the body, for example, when using amobile phone. Cell phone manufacturers are required to ensure that theirphones comply with these objective limits for safe exposure. Any cellphone at or below these SAR levels (that is, any phone legally sold inthe U.S.) is a “safe” phone, as measured by these standards. The FCClimit for public exposure from cellular telephones is a SAR level of 1.6watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg).

Still further, the United States Department of Labor's OccupationalSafety & Health Administration (OSHA) has adopted limits for exposure to“ionizing radiation” (e.g. alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, X-rays,neutrons, high-speed electrons, high-speed protons, and other atomicparticles) and “non-ionizing radiation” (e.g. sound or radio waves) buthas no regulated limits for visible light, infrared or ultravioletlight.

As such, in order to facilitate the unregulated usage of the ad hocsensor system 100 in any number of varied environments, in an exemplaryembodiment, the sensor acquisition transceiver 110 and/or the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 may operate in one or morefrequency and power ranges such that the sensor acquisition signal 109and/or the sensor operation activation signal 120 are not subject toregulation by one or more entities (e.g. a government institution havingjurisdictional authority for a user of the ad hoc sensor system 100 or anon-governmental institution with which a user of the ad hoc sensorsystem 100 is associated (e.g. contractually associated)). For example,the sensor acquisition signal 109 and/or the sensor operation activationsignal 120 may be visible light, infrared, or ultraviolet light signals.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the sensor monitoringdevice 103 may include a transmission parameter database 133. Thetransmission parameter database 133 may include data associated withauthorizations and/or restrictions on the transmission of sensoroperation activation signal 120. For example, the transmission parameterdatabase 133 may include global positioning data mapped to authorizationdata (e.g. governmental regulations established by the FCC, OSHA, andother domestic and foreign rule making authorities) regarding thecharacteristics or type of sensor operation activation signal 120 thatmay be authorized for a given location. The sensor monitoring device 103may further include a global positioning system (GPS) sensor 134. Thesignal control logic 126 may query the GPS sensor 134 to determine acurrently location of the sensor monitoring device 103. The signalcontrol logic 126 may then query the transmission parameter database 133to determine of any restrictions exist for the transmission of thesensor operation activation signal 120 at the present location of thesensor monitoring device 103. The signal control logic 126 may then setone or more signal transmission parameters (e.g. signal frequency,signal power, and the like) according to those restrictions (e.g. setthe sensor operation activation signal 120 to allowable settings asdetermined from the transmission parameter database 133). Whiledescribed in the context of a governmental regulation, the transmissionparameter database 133 may maintain data associated with anytransmission parameter that may be used to allow or restrict thetransmission of the sensor operation activation signal 120 (e.g. auser-defined transmission parameter, and the like).

In another exemplary embodiment, the sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 may include one or more laser transmitters configured totransmit the sensor operation activation signal 120 to one or moresensors 102. Due to regulatory and/or safety issues, it may be the casethat the sensor operation activation transmitter 119 may further includeone or more lens elements configured to at least partially defocus thelaser-based sensor operation activation signal 120 emitted by the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119. Alternately, a defocusedlaser-based sensor operation activation signal 120 may include beamcomponents having varying focal length components. Further, the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 may be configured to produce alaser-based sensor operation activation signal 120 of moderate to highdivergence such that the power density of the laser-based sensoroperation activation signal 120 dissipates over a relatively shortdistance.

In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a sensor 102 mayinclude the sensing element 123 but may be independent of acommunications package 132 including the passive identificationmechanism 108 and/or the power transducer 121. In this manner, thecommunications package 132 may be operably coupled (e.g. via a UniversalSerial Bus-type connection) to and provide power 122 to multiple sensors102. Such a configuration may allow for connection of severallimited-purpose sensors 102 configured for divergent sensing operations(e.g. a thermal sensor and a video capture sensor) into a single sensorpackage with a common communications package 132 configured forreceiving power via a common sensor operation activation signal 120.

In an exemplary embodiment, signal control logic 126 of the sensormonitoring devices 103 may obtain sensor location data 116 from previoussensor acquisitions. The signal control logic 126 may query the sensorlocation database 117 for the location of at least one sensor 102 andprovide control signals to the sensor acquisition transceiver 110 todirect the sensor operation activation signal 120 in the direction ofthe at least one sensor 102 (e.g. via configuring one or more actuatorsor a directional antennal array). The signal control logic 126 may cyclethrough the detected inventory of sensors 102 and configure the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 to transmit the sensor operationactivation signal 120 in the direction of a given sensor 102 during agiven time interval associated with that sensor 102 before moving on totransmissions to additional sensors 102. It may be the case that thesensor operations may be on a time scale greater than a poweracquisition time interval for a given sensor 102. For example, it may bethe case that the sensor monitoring device 103 may only be capable ofdedicating minutes or hours to transmitting a sensor operationactivation signal 120 to a given sensor 102 particular forpower-intensive sensor operations such as cached sensor datatransmission from the sensor 102 to the sensor monitoring device 103.However, it may be desirable for an image capture sensor 102 (e.g. astill or video image capture sensor 102) may operate in a low-power modeto cache sensor data over a period of days or weeks. As such, a sensor102 may include an energy storage device 127 (e.g. a capacitor, abattery, and the like) chargeable by the power 122 generated by thepower transducer 121 in response to the sensor operation activationsignal 120. The power stored by the energy storage device 127 may besurplus power provided during irradiation of the power transducer 121 bythe sensor operation activation transmitter 119 that is not required forsensing operations of the sensing element 123 during that time period.The power stored by the energy storage device 127 may then be used forsensing operations of the sensing element 123 during time periods wherethe sensor operation activation transmitter 119 is not currentlyirradiating the power transducer 121. Power-intensive sensor operationssuch as cached sensor data transmission from the sensor 102 to thesensor monitoring device 103 may only occur intermittently when theadditional power provided by the sensor operation activation signal 120is provided to the sensor 102.

In another exemplary embodiment, the ongoing sensor operations of asensor 102 may have power requirements such that ongoing transmission ofthe sensor operation activation signal 120 is required. For example, forreal-time audio or video sensing, the sensor operation activation signal120 may be transmitted in a continuous manner to one or more sensors102.

In another exemplary embodiment, the transmission of the sensoroperation activation signal 120 to a sensor 102 by the sensor operationactivation transmitter 119 may be conducted according to a schedule. Forexample, it may be the case that the sensor operation activation signal120 may be a high-power signal (e.g. a high-power optical, ultraviolet,or x-ray beam). It may be undesirable to transmit the sensor operationactivation signal 120 having such high-power characteristics into aregion 101 containing sensitive items 104 and or personnel. As such, thesensor monitoring devices 103 may include a sensor activation scheduledatabase 128. The sensor activation schedule database 128 may includescheduling data associated with authorized time periods when ahigh-power sensor operation activation signal 120 may be provided to thesensor 102 to initiate and/or power various sensor operations. Forexample, it may be desirable to activate the high-power sensor operationactivation signal 120 at a time when personnel will generally be absentfrom the region 101 or when certain sensitive items 104 (e.g. biologicalmatter, volatile chemical compositions) are not scheduled to be withinthe region 101 (e.g. during the night when a facility including theregion 101 is closed). The signal control logic 126 may query the sensoractivation schedule database 128 to retrieve scheduling data from thesensor activation schedule database 128 and activate the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 according to that schedule.

Referring to FIG. 4B, in another exemplary embodiment, a sensor 102 mayinclude an energy storage monitoring unit 135. The energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may monitor one or more energy storage parameters(e.g. energy density, voltage capacity, current capacity, and the like)of the energy storage device 127. It may be the case that the sensor 102may include two or more sensing elements 123 configured for differentsensing operations. For example, a sensor 102 may include a sensingelement 123A configured for power-intensive sensing operations (e.g.full-motion color video capture) and a sensing element 123B configuredless power-intensive sensing operations (e.g. simple audio capture). Assuch, it may be the case that the energy storage device 127 maycurrently have sufficient stored energy for performing sensingoperations with the sensing element 123B but may not have sufficientstored energy for performing sensing operations with the sensing element123A. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 may compare one or moreenergy storage parameters of the energy storage device 127 to one ormore threshold energy usage parameters associated with the sensingoperations of the sensing element 123A and/or the sensing element 123Bto determine whether or not sufficient power is available for thesensing element 123A and/or the sensing element 123B. The energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may transmit sensor capability data 136 indicativeof an energy storage parameter and/or a comparison of the energy storageparameter to a threshold energy usage parameter (e.g. a notificationthat the sensor 102 is “in network” or “out of network” for a givensensing operation) which may be received by a sensor capability datareceiver 137 of the sensor monitoring device 103. Depending on therequired availability of the sensing operations of the sensing element123A and/or the sensing element 123B as indicated by the sensorcapability data 136 received by the sensor capability data receiver 137,the signal control logic 126 may cause the sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 to transmit a sensor operation activation signal 120 tothe sensor 102 to directly power the sensing element 123A and/or thesensing element 123B and/or charge the energy storage device 127 tofacilitate continued operations of the sensing element 123. Thetransmission of the sensor capability data 136 by the energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may be in response to a sensing operation request bya sensor monitoring device 103. For example, the sensor monitoringdevice 103 may request that a sensor 102 perform a specific sensingoperation (e.g. full-motion color video capture) and transmit sensordata 124 accordingly. In response to that request, the energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may query the energy storage device 127 and providethe sensor capability data 136 (e.g. a notification that insufficientpower is currently stored) for that particular sensing operationaccording to the current energy storage status of the energy storagedevice 127. In another exemplary embodiment, the sensing operations of asensing element 123 may be reconfigured according to an energy storageparameter of the energy storage device 127. For example, it may be thecase that a sensing element 123 may be presently configured forfull-motion color video capture sensing operations. However, it may bethe case that the energy storage monitoring unit 135 may detect that theenergy storage device 127 lacks sufficient energy density to properlycarry out such power-intensive sensing operations. As such, the energystorage monitoring unit 135 may provide one or more configurationsignals 138 to a sensing element 123 to reconfigure the sensing element123 to operate in a less power-intensive mode (e.g. in a grayscaleperiodic image capture mode). Following recharging of the energy storagedevice 127 by the sensor operation activation signal 120, the energystorage monitoring unit 135 may provide one or more configurationsignals 138 to the sensing element 123 to reconfigure the sensingelement 123 to once again operate in a more power-intensive mode.

Further, in another exemplary embodiment, the sensor operationactivation transmitter 119 may be controlled by an external controlsignal 129. The external control signal 129 may be provided to thesensor monitoring device 103 by the one or more processing devices 105(e.g. a cell phone, tablet computer, laptop computer, and the like)external to the at the sensor monitoring device 103 at the direction ofa user 107. Alternately, as described above, the sensor monitoringdevices 103 may be pluggable with respect to one or more standardenvironmental devices (e.g. a standard 110-volt wall outlet-pluggablesensor monitoring device 103A, a standard 60-watt light socket-pluggablesensor monitoring device 103B, and the like). It may be the case that awall outlet and/or light socket may be controllable by a switch (e.g. astandard wall-mounted light switch) as would be the case for a standardappliance or light bulb coupled to the wall outlet and/or light socket.The sensor monitoring devices 103 may be likewise be configured suchthat the same switch may control the sensor monitoring devices 103 topower on the sensor operation activation transmitter 119 when the switchis actuated by a user.

Further, in another exemplary embodiment, one or more safety featuresmay be employed by the ad hoc sensor system 100 in an attempt to ensurethat a high-power sensor operation activation signal 120 is notactivated when the personnel or certain sensitive items 104 (e.g.biological matter, volatile chemical compositions) are within the region101. For example, a sensor monitoring device 103 may further include atleast one safety sensor 130. The safety sensor 130 may serve todetermine if one on more specified objects (e.g. personnel, biologicalmatter, volatile chemical compositions, and the like) are present withinthe region 101. In the case where the safety sensor 130 detects thepresence of a specified object, the safety sensor 130 may provide anotification signal 131 to the signal control logic 126. In response tothe notification signal 131, the signal control logic 126 may restrictan otherwise scheduled transmission of the high-power sensor operationactivation signal 120 into the region 101. The safety sensor 130 mayinclude one or more of a motion sensor (e.g. detecting movement of aperson within the region 101), an image capture sensor operably coupledto image recognition logic (e.g. detecting an image of a person orobject within the region 101), an RF sensor (e.g. detecting an RFID chipassociated with an identification badge of a person or object within theregion 101), and the like.

In another exemplary embodiment, the sensor 102 may not employ theenergy storage device 127 and/or any type of power-intensive radiotransmission components. Rather, the sensing element 123 of the sensor102 may directly receive the sensor operation activation signal 120(e.g. an optical beam) and directly modulate that beam according to oneor more sensing parameters before the modulated beam is transmitted backto the sensor monitoring device 103 as sensor data 124. For example, thesensing element 123 may be optical sensing element 123 including atleast one MEMS device. The MEMS device may be a device configured to bemodified by the sensing parameter (e.g. by temperature or pressure) andmodulate the sensor operation activation signal 120 according to suchmodifications so as to generate sensor data 124 associated with thesensing parameter.

In another exemplary embodiment, a sensing element 123 may include atleast one passive (e.g. operating only in response to an environmentalstimulus) sensing element. For example, the sensing element 123 mayinclude a MEMS device which may be responsive to environmentalconditions such as temperature, pressure, humidity, and the like. Uponirradiation of the sensor 102 by a sensor operation activation signal120 wirelessly transmitted by the sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 (e.g. optical/laser transceiver, and the like) of thesensor monitoring device 103, may receive the sensor operationactivation signal 120, modulate that sensor operation activation signal120 according to the environmental conditions and retransmit themodulated sensor operation activation signal 120 as the sensor data 124.

FIG. 5 and the following figures include various examples of operationalflows, discussions and explanations may be provided with respect to theabove-described exemplary environment of FIGS. 1-4B. However, it shouldbe understood that the operational flows may be executed in a number ofother environments and contexts, and/or in modified versions of FIGS.1-4B. In addition, although the various operational flows are presentedin the sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the variousoperations may be performed in different sequential orders other thanthose which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

Further, in the following figures that depict various flow processes,various operations may be depicted in a box-within-a-box manner. Suchdepictions may indicate that an operation in an internal box maycomprise an optional example embodiment of the operational stepillustrated in one or more external boxes. However, it should beunderstood that internal box operations may be viewed as independentoperations separate from any associated external boxes and may beperformed in any sequence with respect to all other illustratedoperations, or may be performed concurrently.

FIG. 5 illustrates an operational procedure 500 for practicing aspectsof the present disclosure including operations 502, 504 and/or 506.

Operation 502 illustrates receiving one or more wireless signalsassociated with a sensing capability status of at least one sensor. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 4B, a sensor 102 may include an energy storagemonitoring unit 135. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 may monitorone or more energy storage parameters (e.g. energy density, voltagecapacity, current capacity, and the like) of the energy storage device127. It may be the case that the energy storage device 127 may or maynot have sufficient stored energy for performing sensing operations witha sensing element 123. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 maycompare one or more energy storage parameters of the energy storagedevice 127 to one or more threshold energy usage parameters associatedwith the sensing operations of the sensing element 123 to determinewhether or not the sufficient power is available for the sensing element123A and/or the sensing element 123B. The energy storage monitoring unit135 may transmit sensor capability data 136 indicative of an energystorage parameter and/or a comparison of the energy storage parameter toa threshold energy usage parameter (e.g. a notification that the sensor102 is “in network” or “out of network” for a given sensing operation)which may be received by a sensor capability data receiver 137 of thesensor monitoring device 103.

Operation 504 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to thesensing capability status of the at least one sensor. For example, asshown in FIGS. 1-2, the sensors 102 may be configured as passive sensorswith no external power source for conducting sensing (e.g. thermal,pressure, motion, image, audio, electromagnetic, and the like)operations. As such, the sensor monitoring device 103 may include asensor operation activation transmitter 119 having a relatively higherpower signal (e.g. as compared to the power requirements of the sensoracquisition signal 109 of the sensor acquisition transceiver 110)configured for wirelessly transmitting a sensor operation activationsignal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and thelike) to the sensors 102. The signal control logic 126 may direct thesensor acquisition transceiver 110 in the direction of the at least onesensor 102 (e.g. via configuring one or more actuators or a directionalantennal array) according to location of at least one sensor 102obtained from the sensor location database 117 and transmit the sensoroperation activation signal 120. Depending on the required availabilityof the sensing operations of a sensing element 123 as indicated by thesensor capability data 136 received by the sensor capability datareceiver 137, the signal control logic 126 may cause the sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 to transmit a sensor operationactivation signal 120 to the sensor 102 to directly power the sensingelement 123 and/or charge the energy storage device 127 to facilitatecontinued operations of the sensing element 123.

Operation 506 illustrates at least one of powering one or more sensingoperations of the at least one sensor and charging one or more powerstorage devices of the at least one sensor via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, thesensors 102 may be configured as passive sensors with no independentpower source for conducting sensing (e.g. thermal, pressure, motion,image, audio, electromagnetic, and the like) operations. As such, thesensor monitoring device 103 may include a sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 having a relatively higher power signal configured forwirelessly transmitting a sensor operation activation signal 120 (e.g.an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and the like) to thesensors 102. The sensors 102 may include a power transducer 121configured to convert the sensor operation activation signal 120 intoelectrical or optical power 122 usable by sensing element 123 (e.g.electrical circuitry, micro-electromechanical system devices, and thelike) configured to carry out the desired sensing operations.

FIG. 6 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation502 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operations 602 and/or 604.

Operation 602 illustrates receiving one or more wireless signalsassociated with an energy density status of the power storage device ofat least one sensor. For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, a sensor 102 mayinclude an energy storage monitoring unit 135. The energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may monitor the energy density of the energy storagedevice 127. It may be the case that the energy storage device 127 may ormay not have sufficient stored energy for performing sensing operationswith a sensing element 123. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 maycompare one or more energy storage parameters of the energy storagedevice 127 to one or more threshold energy usage parameters associatedwith the sensing operations of the sensing element 123 to determinewhether or not the sufficient power is available for the sensing element123A and/or the sensing element 123B. The energy storage monitoring unit135 may transmit sensor capability data 136 indicative of an energystorage parameter and/or a comparison of the energy storage parameter toa threshold energy usage parameter (e.g. a notification that the sensor102 is “in network” or “out of network” for a given sensing operation)which may be received by a sensor capability data receiver 137 of thesensor monitoring device 103.

Operation 604 illustrates receiving one or more wireless signalsassociated with a capability to perform a first sensing operation and aninability to perform a second sensing operation. For example, as shownin FIG. 4B, a sensor 102 may include an energy storage monitoring unit135. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 may monitor one or moreenergy storage parameters (e.g. energy density, voltage capacity,current capacity, and the like) of the energy storage device 127. It maybe the case that the sensor 102 may include two or more sensing elements123 configured for different sensing operations. For example, a sensor102 may include a sensing element 123A configured for power-intensivesensing operations (e.g. full-motion color video capture) and a sensingelement 123B configured less power-intensive sensing operations (e.g.simple audio capture). As such, it may be the case that the energystorage device 127 may currently have sufficient stored energy forperforming sensing operations with the sensing element 123B but may nothave sufficient stored energy for performing sensing operations with thesensing element 123A. The energy storage monitoring unit 135 may compareone or more energy storage parameters of the energy storage device 127to one or more threshold energy usage parameters associated with thesensing operations of the sensing element 123A and/or the sensingelement 123B to determine whether or not sufficient power is availablefor the sensing element 123A and/or the sensing element 123B. The energystorage monitoring unit 135 may transmit sensor capability data 136indicative of an energy storage parameter and/or a comparison of theenergy storage parameter to a threshold energy usage parameter (e.g. anotification that the sensor 102 is “in network” or “out of network” fora given sensing operation) which may be received by a sensor capabilitydata receiver 137 of the sensor monitoring device 103.

FIG. 7 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation502 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operation 702.

Operation 702 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to aprogrammed schedule. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, thetransmission of the sensor operation activation signal 120 to a sensor102 by the sensor operation activation transmitter 119 may be conductedaccording to a schedule. For example, it may be the case that the sensoroperation activation signal 120 may be a high-power signal (e.g. ahigh-power optical, ultraviolet, or x-ray beam). It may be undesirableto transmit the sensor operation activation signal 120 having suchhigh-power characteristics into a region 101 containing sensitive items104 and or personnel. As such, the sensor monitoring devices 103 mayinclude a sensor activation schedule database 128. The sensor activationschedule database 128 may include scheduling data associated withauthorized time periods when a high-power sensor operation activationsignal 120 may be provided to the sensor 102 to initiate and/or powervarious sensor operations. For example, it may be desirable to activatethe high-power sensor operation activation signal 120 at a time whenpersonnel will generally be absent from the region 101 or when certainsensitive items 104 (e.g. biological matter, volatile chemicalcompositions) are not scheduled to be within the region 101 (e.g. duringthe night when a facility including the region 101 is closed). Thesignal control logic 126 may query the sensor activation scheduledatabase 128 to retrieve scheduling data from the sensor activationschedule database 128 and activate the sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 according to that schedule.

FIG. 8 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation802 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operations 802, 804 and/or806.

Operation 802 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one ormore external control signals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, thesensor operation activation transmitter 119 may be controlled by anexternal control signal 129 (e.g. a signal not originating from thesensor monitoring device 103).

Operation 804 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one ormore external control signals received from at least one externaldevice. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, an external control signal129 may be provided to the sensor monitoring device 103 by one or moreprocessing devices 105 (e.g. a cell phone, tablet computer, laptopcomputer, and the like) external to the at the sensor monitoring device103 at the direction of a user 107.

Operation 806 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to one ormore external control signals received from one or more switches. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the sensor monitoring devices 103 may bepluggable with respect to one or more standard environmental devices(e.g. a standard 110-volt wall outlet-pluggable sensor monitoring device103A, a standard 60-watt light socket-pluggable sensor monitoring device103B, and the like). It may be the case that a wall outlet and/or lightsocket may be controllable by a switch (e.g. a standard wall-mountedlight switch) as would be the case for a standard appliance or lightbulb coupled to the wall outlet and/or light socket. The sensormonitoring devices 103 may be likewise be configured such that the sameswitch may control the sensor monitoring devices 103 to power on thesensor operation activation transmitter 119 when the switch is actuatedby a user.

FIG. 9 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation502 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operation 902.

Operation 902 illustrates wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according one ormore sensor signals indicative of a presence or absence of one or moreobjects within the portion of a region including at least one sensor.For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, one or more safety features may beemployed by the ad hoc sensor system 100 in an attempt to ensure that ahigh-power sensor operation activation signal 120 is not activated whenthe personnel or certain sensitive items 104 (e.g. biological matter,volatile chemical compositions) are within the region 101. For example,a sensor monitoring device 103 may further include at least one safetysensor 132. The safety sensor 130 may serve to determine if one on morespecified objects (e.g. personnel, biological matter, volatile chemicalcompositions, and the like) are present within the region 101. In thecase where the safety sensor 130 detects the presence of a specifiedobject, the safety sensor 130 may provide a notification signal 133 tothe signal control logic 126. In response to the notification signal131, the signal control logic 126 may restrict an otherwise scheduledtransmission of the high-power sensor operation activation signal 120into the region 101. The safety sensor 130 may include one or more of amotion sensor (e.g. detecting movement of a person within the region101), an image capture sensor operably coupled to image recognitionlogic (e.g. detecting an image of a person or object within the region101), an RF sensor (e.g. detecting an RFID chip associated with anidentification badge of a person or object within the region 101), andthe like.

FIG. 11 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation504 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operations 1102, 1104and/or 1106.

Operation 1102 illustrates powering one or more thermal sensingoperations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensors 102 may beconfigured as passive sensors with no independent power source forconducting thermal sensing operations by an thermal sensing element 123(e.g. a thermo-resistor). As such, the sensor monitoring device 103 mayinclude a sensor operation activation transmitter 119 having arelatively higher power signal configured for wirelessly transmitting asensor operation activation signal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical,ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and the like) to the sensors 102. The sensors102 may include a power transducer 121 configured to convert the sensoroperation activation signal 120 into electrical or optical power 122usable by sensing element 123 (e.g. electrical circuitry,micro-electromechanical system devices, and the like) configured tocarry out the desired thermal sensing operations.

Operation 1104 illustrates powering one or more pressure sensingoperations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensors 102 may beconfigured as passive sensors with no independent power source forconducting pressure sensing operations by an pressure sensing element123 (e.g. a piezoelectric pressure sensor). As such, the sensormonitoring device 103 may include a sensor operation activationtransmitter 119 having a relatively higher power signal configured forwirelessly transmitting a sensor operation activation signal 120 (e.g.an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and the like) to thesensors 102. The sensors 102 may include a power transducer 121configured to convert the sensor operation activation signal 120 intoelectrical or optical power 122 usable by sensing element 123 (e.g.electrical circuitry, micro-electromechanical system devices, and thelike) configured to carry out the desired pressure sensing operations.

Operation 1106 illustrates powering one or more motion sensingoperations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensors 102 may beconfigured as passive sensors with no independent power source forconducting motion sensing operations by a motion sensing element 123(e.g. a camera, thermal sensor, pressure sensor, radar sensor, and thelike). As such, the sensor monitoring device 103 may include a sensoroperation activation transmitter 119 having a relatively higher powersignal configured for wirelessly transmitting a sensor operationactivation signal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-raybeam, and the like) to the sensors 102. The sensors 102 may include apower transducer 121 configured to convert the sensor operationactivation signal 120 into electrical or optical power 122 usable bysensing element 123 (e.g. electrical circuitry, micro-electromechanicalsystem devices, and the like) configured to carry out the desired motionsensing operations.

FIG. 12 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation 504 ofoperational flow 500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operations 1202, 1204and/or 1206.

Operation 1202 illustrates powering one or more image sensing operationsof a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensors 102 may be configured aspassive sensors with no on-board power source for conducting imagesensing operations by an image capture sensing element 123 (e.g. a stillor video camera). As such, the sensor monitoring device 103 may includea sensor operation activation transmitter 119 having a relatively higherpower signal configured for wirelessly transmitting a sensor operationactivation signal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-raybeam, and the like) to the sensors 102. The sensors 102 may include apower transducer 121 configured to convert the sensor operationactivation signal 120 into electrical or optical power 122 usable bysensing element 123 (e.g. electrical circuitry, micro-electromechanicalsystem devices, and the like) configured to carry out the desired imagesensing operations.

Operation 1204 illustrates powering one or more audio sensing operationsof a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensors 102 may be configured aspassive sensors with no on-board power source for conducting audiosensing operations by an audio sensing element 123 (e.g. a microphone).As such, the sensor monitoring device 103 may include a sensor operationactivation transmitter 119 having a relatively higher power signalconfigured for wirelessly transmitting a sensor operation activationsignal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical, ultraviolet, x-ray beam, and thelike) to the sensors 102. The sensors 102 may include a power transducer121 configured to convert the sensor operation activation signal 120into electrical or optical power 122 usable by sensing element 123 (e.g.electrical circuitry, micro-electromechanical system devices, and thelike) configured to carry out the desired audio sensing operations.

Operation 1206 illustrates powering one or more electromagneticradiation sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, thesensors 102 may be configured as passive sensors with no on-board powersource for conducting electromagnetic radiation (EMR) sensing operationsby an EMR sensing element 123. As such, the sensor monitoring device 103may include a sensor operation activation transmitter 119 having arelatively higher power configured for wirelessly transmitting a sensoroperation activation signal 120 (e.g. an infrared, optical, ultraviolet,x-ray beam, and the like) to the sensors 102. The sensors 102 mayinclude a power transducer 121 configured to convert the sensoroperation activation signal 120 into electrical or optical power 122usable by sensing element 123 (e.g. electrical circuitry,micro-electromechanical system devices, and the like) configured tocarry out the desired EMR sensing operations.

FIG. 13 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1203.

Operation 1302 illustrates charging one or more power storage devices ofthe at least one sensor. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, it may bethe case that sensor operations may be on a time scale greater than apower acquisition time interval for a given sensor 102. For example, itmay be the case that the sensor monitoring device 103 may only becapable of dedicating minutes or hours to transmitting a sensoroperation activation signal 120 to a given sensor 102 particular forpower-intensive sensor operations such as cached sensor datatransmission from the sensor 102 to the sensor monitoring device 103.However, it may be desirable for an image capture sensor 102 (e.g. astill or video image capture sensor 102) may operate in a low-power modeto record sensor data over a period of days or weeks. As such, a sensor102 may include an energy storage device 127 (e.g. a capacitor, abattery, and the like) chargeable by the power 122 generated by thepower transducer 121 in response to the sensor operation activationsignal 120.

FIG. 13 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1302 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 13 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operations1304, 1306 and/or 1308.

Operation 1304 illustrates charging one or more batteries via the one ormore sensor operation activation signals. For example, as shown in FIGS.1-4, it may be the case that sensor operations may be on a time scalegreater than a power acquisition time interval for a given sensor 102.For example, it may be the case that the sensor monitoring device 103may only be capable of dedicating minutes or hours to transmitting asensor operation activation signal 120 to a given sensor 102 particularfor power-intensive sensor operations such as cached sensor datatransmission from the sensor 102 to the sensor monitoring device 103.However, it may be desirable for an image capture sensor 102 (e.g. astill or video image capture sensor 102) may operate in a low-power modeto record sensor data over a period of days or weeks. As such, a sensor102 may include one or more batteries chargeable by the power 122generated by the power transducer 121 in response to the sensoroperation activation signal 120.

Operation 1306 illustrates charging one or more capacitors via the oneor more sensor operation activation signals. For example, as shown inFIGS. 1-4, it may be the case that sensor operations may be on a timescale greater than a power acquisition time interval for a given sensor102. For example, it may be the case that the sensor monitoring device103 may only be capable of dedicating minutes or hours to transmitting asensor operation activation signal 120 to a given sensor 102 particularfor power-intensive sensor operations such as cached sensor datatransmission from the sensor 102 to the sensor monitoring device 103.However, it may be desirable for an image capture sensor 102 (e.g. astill or video image capture sensor 102) may operate in a low-power modeto record sensor data over a period of days or weeks. As such, a sensor102 may include one or more capacitors chargeable by the power 122generated by the power transducer 121 in response to the sensoroperation activation signal 120.

Operation 1308 illustrates powering one or more sensing operations of asensor via the one or more power storage devices. The power stored bythe energy storage device 127 may then be used for sensing operations ofthe sensing element 123 during time periods where the sensor operationactivation transmitter 119 is not currently irradiating the powertransducer 121.

FIG. 14 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1402.

Operation 1402 illustrates receiving one or more wireless signalsindicative of a presence of a sensor within a portion of a region to bemonitored. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensor monitoringdevices 103 may be configured to scan (e.g. a grid scan) the region 101and detect the locations of one or more sensors 102 within the region101. Such scanning capabilities allow the sensors 102 to be arbitrarilyarranged about the region 101 without regard to relative orientations ofthe sensors 102 and the sensor monitoring devices 103 by a user havinglimited training with respect to operation of the ad hoc sensor system100. Such location detection of the sensors 102 may serve to optimizecommunications with the sensors 102 in that communications signals maybe wirelessly transmitted to and received from the sensors 102 in an atleast partially targeted manner (e.g. via a configurable directionalantenna) so as to avoid unnecessary power consumption associated with afull broadcast mode to portions of the region 101 not containing sensors102. In an exemplary embodiment, a sensors 102 may include at least onepassive identification mechanism 108 (e.g. a mechanism operating only inresponse to an environmental stimulus such as a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) chip, a retro-reflector, a micro electromechanicalsystem (MEMS) device, and the like) which, upon irradiation of thesensor 102 by, for example, a sensor acquisition signal 109 wirelesslytransmitted by a sensor acquisition transceiver 110 (e.g. a radiotransceiver, an optical/laser transceiver, and the like) of a sensormonitoring device 103, the sensor 102 may, in turn, wirelessly transmitan identification signal 111 indicative of the presence of the sensor102 within the region 101 which may be received by the sensoracquisition transceiver 110 of the sensor monitoring device 103.

The received identification signal 111 may simply be a beacon-typesignal that simply indicates the presence of a sensor 102 within thecurrently scanned region (e.g. where the passive identificationmechanism 108 is merely a reflective surface on the sensor 102).Alternately the received identification signal 111 may include dataassociated with the sensor 102 and stored by the passive identificationmechanism 108 (e.g. as an RFID chip). For example, the identificationsignal 111 may encode data associated with a sensor-type (e.g. thermal,pressure, motion, image, audio, electromagnetic, and the like) of thesensor 102, sensor operation requirements (e.g. operating power levels,power storage charge times, and the like), and the like.

FIG. 14 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1402 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 14 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operation 1404.

Operation 1404 illustrates receiving one or more wireless signalsindicative of a presence of a sensor within a portion of a region to bemonitored with one or more sensor monitoring devices pluggable into oneor more power sources. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the sensormonitoring devices 103 may be configured as one or more standardenvironmental devices (e.g. a wall outlet-pluggable sensor monitoringdevice 103A, a light socket-pluggable sensor monitoring device 103B, andthe like) such that the region 101 may be easily retrofitted to employthe ad hoc sensor system 100 by incorporating the sensor monitoringdevices 103 into pre-existing power supplies.

FIG. 15 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1502.

Operation 1502 illustrates transmitting one or more signals to a portionof a region to be monitored with one or more sensors. For example, asshown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensor monitoring device 103 may scan the region101 in a zonal manner whereby the sensor acquisition transceiver 110(e.g. a radio transceiver, a microwave transceiver, an infraredtransceiver, an optical/laser transceiver, and the like) isprogressively directed to various portions of the region 101 andtransmits the sensor acquisition signal 109. The sensor monitoringdevices 103 may cycle through a defined set of portions of the region101 maintained by the sensor location database 117 and transmit thesensor operation activation signal 120 to a given portion of the region101 during a given time interval associated with that portion of theregion 101 before moving on to transmissions to additional portions ofthe region 101.

FIG. 15 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1502 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 15 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operations 1504and/or 1506.

Operation 1504 illustrates transmitting one or more radio frequencysignals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or moresensors. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensor acquisitiontransceiver 110 may be progressively directed to various portions of theregion 101 and transmits a sensor acquisition signal 109 characterizedby having a frequency in the radio frequency range of from about 3 kHzto 3000 GHz.

Operation 1506 illustrates transmitting one or more optical frequencysignals to a portion of a region to be monitored with one or moresensors. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the sensor acquisitiontransceiver 110 may be progressively directed to various portions of theregion 101 and transmits a sensor acquisition signal 109 characterizedby having a frequency in the optical/visible frequency range of fromabout 500-790 THz. Use of a sensor acquisition signal 109 in theoptical/visible frequency range may have the advantage that such use islargely unregulated by governmental entities.

FIG. 16 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1602.

Operation 1602 illustrates transmitting one or more signals indicativeof a presence of a sensor within the portion of the region to bemonitored to a sensor monitoring device. For example, as shown in FIGS.1-4, upon irradiation of the sensor 102 by, for example, a sensoracquisition signal 109 wirelessly transmitted by a sensor acquisitiontransceiver 110 (e.g. a radio transceiver, a microwave transceiver, aninfrared transceiver, an optical/laser transceiver, and the like) of asensor monitoring device 103, the sensor 102 may wirelessly transmit anidentification signal 111 indicative of the presence of the sensor 102within the region 101. For example, the passive identification mechanism108 may include a MEMS device configured to receive the sensoracquisition signal 109, modulate that sensor acquisition signal 109 andretransmit the modulated sensor acquisition signal 109 as theidentification signal 111.

FIG. 16 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1602 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 16 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operations1604, 1606 and/or 1608.

Operation 1604 illustrates transmitting one or more signals indicativeof a presence of a sensor via a passive radio frequency identificationchip of the sensor. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, theidentification signal 111 may include data associated with the sensor102 and stored by the passive identification mechanism 108 (e.g. as anRFID chip). For example, the identification signal 111 may encode dataassociated with a sensor-type (e.g. thermal, pressure, motion, image,audio, electromagnetic, and the like) of the sensor 102, sensoroperation requirements (e.g. operating power levels, power storagecharge times, and the like), and the like.

Operation 1606 illustrates transmitting one or more signals indicativeof a presence of a sensor via a retro-reflector of the sensor. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the identification signal 111 may simplybe a beacon-type signal that indicates the presence of a sensor 102within the currently scanned region. Specifically, it may be the casethat the passive identification mechanism 108 is merely a reflectivesurface on a retro-reflector that merely reflects the sensor acquisitionsignal 109 back to the sensor acquisition transceiver 110 as theidentification signal 111.

Operation 1608 illustrates transmitting one or more signals indicativeof a presence of a sensor via a micro-electromechanical device of thesensor. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, upon irradiation of thesensor 102 by, for example, a sensor acquisition signal 109 wirelesslytransmitted by a sensor acquisition transceiver 110 (e.g. a radiotransceiver, an optical/laser transceiver, and the like) of a sensormonitoring device 103, the sensor 102 may wirelessly transmit anidentification signal 111 indicative of the presence of the sensor 102within the region 101. For example, the passive identification mechanism108 may include a MEMS device configured to receive the sensoracquisition signal 109, modulate that sensor acquisition signal 109 andretransmit the modulated sensor acquisition signal 109 as theidentification signal 111.

FIG. 17 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation 1602 ofoperational flow 500 of FIG. 16 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operation 1702.

Operation 1702 illustrates transmitting one or more signals indicativeof a sensor type associated with a sensor. For example, as shown inFIGS. 1-4, the identification signal 111 may include data associatedwith the sensor 102 and stored by the passive identification mechanism108 (e.g. as an RFID chip). For example, the identification signal 111may encode data associated with a sensor-type (e.g. thermal, pressure,motion, image, audio, electromagnetic, and the like) of the sensor 102,sensor operation requirements (e.g. operating power levels, powerstorage charge times, and the like), and the like.

FIG. 18 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1802.

Operation 1802 illustrates providing one or more at least partiallyreflective elements configured to direct one or more signals around oneor more items disposed in a line-of-sight between a sensor and a sensormonitoring device. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, it may be thecase that line-of-sight issues with respect to the relative orientationsof the sensors 102, sensor monitoring device 103 and any interveningitems 104 may exist within the region 101. For example, as shown in FIG.1, an item 104 may be disposed between a sensor monitoring device 103(e.g. sensor monitoring device 103A) and a sensor 102 (e.g. sensor102A). As such, the ad hoc sensor system 100 may further include one ormore at least partially reflective surfaces 118 (e.g. mirrors,electro-optical lenses, light guides, and the like). The reflectivesurfaces 118 may serve to remedy the line-of-sight issues for a givensensor 102 by providing an alternate signal path between a sensormonitoring device 103 and a sensor 102. The reflective surfaces 118 maybe simple static structures such as mirrors or prisms. Alternately, thereflective surfaces 118 may be controllable structures (e.g. via acontrol signal generated by the sensor monitoring device 103) such thatthe physical orientation and/or electro-optical properties of areflective surface 118 may be modified during a sensor locationacquisition scan by the sensor monitoring device 103 of the portion ofthe region 101 including the reflective surface 118 such that theeffective scanning area of the sensor monitoring device 103 may includeportions of the region 101 which are otherwise restricted due toline-of-sight issues.

FIG. 18 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1802 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 18 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operations 1804and/or 1806.

Operation 1804 illustrates controlling a physical orientation of the oneor more at least partially reflective elements to direct one or moresignals around one or more items disposed in a line-of-sight between asensor and a sensor monitoring device. For example, as shown in FIGS.1-4, it may be the case that line-of-sight issues with respect to therelative orientations of the sensors 102, sensor monitoring device 103and any intervening items 104 may exist within the region 101. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1, an item 104 may be disposed between asensor monitoring device 103 (e.g. sensor monitoring device 103A) and asensor 102 (e.g. sensor 102A). As such, the ad hoc sensor system 100 mayfurther include one or more at least partially reflective surfaces 118(e.g. mirrors, electro-optical lenses, light guides, and the like). Thereflective surfaces 118 may serve to remedy the line-of-sight issues fora given sensor 102 by providing an alternate signal path between asensor monitoring device 103 and a sensor 102. In one case, thereflective surfaces 118 may be controllable structures (e.g. MEMSstructures) which may include adjustable reflective surface 118 whichmay be physically oriented to redirect signals between the a sensormonitoring device 103 and a sensor 102.

Operation 1806 illustrates controlling one or more electro-opticalelements to direct one or more signals around one or more items disposedin a line-of-sight between a sensor and a sensor monitoring device. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, it may be the case that line-of-sightissues with respect to the relative orientations of the sensors 102,sensor monitoring device 103 and any intervening items 104 may existwithin the region 101. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an item 104 maybe disposed between a sensor monitoring device 103 (e.g. sensormonitoring device 103A) and a sensor 102 (e.g. sensor 102A). As such,the ad hoc sensor system 100 may further include one or more at leastpartially reflective surfaces 118 (e.g. mirrors, electro-optical lenses,light guides, and the like). The reflective surfaces 118 may serve toremedy the line-of-sight issues for a given sensor 102 by providing analternate signal path between a sensor monitoring device 103 and asensor 102. In one case, the reflective surfaces 118 may be electricallycontrollable structures (e.g. a variable electro-optical mirror) whichmay include adjustable reflective surface 118 which may be physicallyoriented to redirect signals between the a sensor monitoring device 103and a sensor 102.

FIG. 19 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 1902.

Operation 1902 illustrates wirelessly transmitting sensor data from thesensor to the sensor monitoring device in response to the one or moresensor operation activation signals. For example, the sensor 102 may notemploy the energy storage device 127 and/or any type of power-intensiveradio transmission components. Rather, the sensing element 123 of thesensor 102 may directly receive the sensor operation activation signal120 (e.g. an optical beam) and directly modulate that beam according toone or more sensing parameters before the modulated beam is transmittedback to the sensor monitoring device 103 as sensor data 124. Forexample, the sensing element 123 may be optical sensing element 123including at least one MEMS device. The MEMS device may be a deviceconfigured to be modified by the sensing parameter (e.g. by temperatureor pressure) and modulate the sensor operation activation signal 120according to such modifications so as to generate sensor data 124associated with the sensing parameter.

FIG. 19 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein operation1902 of operational flow 500 of FIG. 19 may include one or moreadditional operations. Additional operations may include operations1904.

Operation 1904 illustrates wirelessly transmitting sensor data via amicro-electromechanical device of the sensor. For example, the sensor102 may not employ the energy storage device 127 and/or any type ofpower-intensive radio transmission components. Rather, the sensingelement 123 of the sensor 102 may directly receive the sensor operationactivation signal 120 (e.g. an optical beam) and directly modulate thatbeam according to one or more sensing parameters before the modulatedbeam is transmitted back to the sensor monitoring device 103 as sensordata 124. For example, the sensing element 123 may be an optical sensingelement 123 including at least one MEMS device. The MEMS device may be adevice configured to be modified by the sensing parameter (e.g. bytemperature or pressure) and modulate the sensor operation activationsignal 120 according to such modifications so as to generate sensor data124 associated with the sensing parameter.

FIG. 20 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 2002.

Operation 2002 illustrates reconfiguring one or more sensing elementsaccording to the sensing capability status of the at least one sensor.For example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the sensing operations of a sensingelement 123 may be reconfigured according to an energy storage parameterof the energy storage device 127. For example, it may be the case that asensing element 123 may be presently configured for full-motion colorvideo capture sensing operations. However, it may be the case that theenergy storage monitoring unit 135 may detect that the energy storagedevice 127 lacks sufficient energy density to properly carry out suchpower-intensive sensing operations. As such, the energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may provide one or more configuration signals 138 toa sensing element 123 to reconfigure the sensing element 123 to operatein a less power-intensive mode (e.g. in a grayscale periodic imagecapture mode). Following recharging of the energy storage device 127 bythe sensor operation activation signal 120, the energy storagemonitoring unit 135 may provide one or more configuration signals 138 tothe sensing element 123 to reconfigure the sensing element 123 to onceagain operate in a more power-intensive mode.

FIG. 21 illustrates an operational procedure wherein operational flow500 of FIG. 5 may include one or more additional operations. Additionaloperations may include operation 2102.

Operation 2102 illustrates transmitting a sensing operation request. Forexample, as shown in FIGS. 1-4B, the sensor monitoring device 103 mayrequest that a sensor 102 perform a specific sensing operation (e.g.full-motion color video capture) and transmit sensor data 124accordingly.

FIG. 21 further illustrates an operational procedure wherein theoperational flow 500 of FIG. 21 may include one or more additionaloperations. Additional operations may include operations 2104.

Operation 2104 illustrates receiving a sensing capability statusnotification in response to the sensing operation request. For example,as shown in FIG. 4B, in response to a request by the sensor monitoringdevice 103 that a sensor 102 perform a specific sensing operation, theenergy storage monitoring unit 135 may query the energy storage device127 and provide the sensor capability data 136 (e.g. a notification thatinsufficient power is currently stored) for that particular sensingoperation according to the current energy storage status of the energystorage device 127.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such describeddevices and/or processes into data processing systems. That is, at leasta portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/oradjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processingsystem may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially availablecomponents, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by theappended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, ingeneral, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g.,bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms(e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but notlimited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having atleast,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but isnot limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those withinthe art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation isintended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and inthe absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example,as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may containusage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” tointroduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should notbe construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by theindefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containingsuch introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, evenif a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitlyrecited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitationshould typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number(e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where aconvention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, ingeneral such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill inthe art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at leastone of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that haveA alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be furtherunderstood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive wordand/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in thedescription, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplatethe possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, orboth terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood toinclude the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for communicating with one or moresensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising: at least one computingdevice; and one or more instructions that, when implemented in the atleast one computing device, program the at least one computing devicefor: receiving one or more wireless signals indicating a sensingcapability status of at least one sensor; wirelessly transmitting one ormore sensor operation activation signals to one or more sensorsaccording to the sensing capability status of the at least one sensor;and causing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations ofthe at least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices ofthe at least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiving one or morewireless signals indicating a sensing capability status of at least onesensor includes: receiving one or more wireless signals indicating anenergy density status of the power storage device of at least onesensor.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiving one or morewireless signals indicating a sensing capability status of at least onesensor includes: receiving one or more wireless signals indicating acapability to perform a first sensing operation and an inability toperform a second sensing operation.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereinthe wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activationsignals to one or more sensors according to the sensing capabilitystatus of the at least one sensor further includes: wirelesslytransmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one ormore sensors according to a programmed schedule.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operationactivation signals to one or more sensors according to the sensingcapability status of the at least one sensor includes: wirelesslytransmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one ormore sensors according to one or more external control signals.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or moresensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according tothe sensing capability status of the at least one sensor includes:wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signalsto one or more sensors according to one or more external control signalsreceived from at least one external device.
 7. The system of claim 5,wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operationactivation signals to one or more sensors according to the sensingcapability status of the at least one sensor includes: wirelesslytransmitting one or more sensor operation activation signals to one ormore sensors according to one or more external control signals receivedfrom one or more switches.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein thewirelessly transmitting one or more sensor operation activation signalsto one or more sensors according to the sensing capability status of theat least one sensor includes: wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according one ormore sensor signals indicative of a presence or absence of one or moreobjects within the portion of a region including at least one sensor. 9.The system of claim 1, wherein the causing at least one of powering oneor more sensing operations of the at least one sensor or charging one ormore power storage devices of the at least one sensor via the one ormore sensor operation activation signals includes: powering one or morethermal sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein thecausing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of theat least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices of theat least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals includes: powering one or more pressure sensing operations of asensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the causing at least one of powering one ormore sensing operations of the at least one sensor or charging one ormore power storage devices of the at least one sensor via the one ormore sensor operation activation signals includes: powering one or moremotion sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein thecausing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of theat least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices of theat least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals includes: powering one or more image sensing operations of asensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signals.
 13. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the causing at least one of powering one ormore sensing operations of the at least one sensor or charging one ormore power storage devices of the at least one sensor via the one ormore sensor operation activation signals includes: powering one or moreaudio sensing operations of a sensor via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein thecausing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of theat least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices of theat least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals includes: powering one or more electromagnetic radiation sensingoperations of a sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the causing at least one ofpowering one or more sensing operations of the at least one sensor orcharging one or more power storage devices of the at least one sensorvia the one or more sensor operation activation signals comprises:charging one or more batteries via the one or more sensor operationactivation signals.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein the causing atleast one of powering one or more sensing operations of the at least onesensor or charging one or more power storage devices of the at least onesensor via the one or more sensor operation activation signalscomprises: charging one or more capacitors via the one or more sensoroperation activation signals.
 17. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: powering one or more sensing operations of a sensor via theone or more power storage devices.
 18. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving one or more wireless signals indicative of apresence of a sensor within a portion of a region to be monitored. 19.The system of claim 18, wherein the receiving one or more wirelesssignals indicative of a presence of a sensor within a portion of aregion to be monitored includes: receiving one or more wireless signalsindicative of a presence of a sensor within a portion of a region to bemonitored with one or more sensor monitoring devices pluggable into oneor more power sources.
 20. The system of claim 18, further comprising:transmitting one or more signals to a portion of a region to bemonitored with one or more sensors.
 21. The system of claim 20, whereinthe transmitting one or more signals to a portion of a region to bemonitored with one or more sensors includes: transmitting one or moresignals to one or more sensors via a device independent of a sensormonitoring device; and wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or moresensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according tothe sensing capability status of the at least one sensor includes:transmitting one or more signals to one or more sensors according to thelocation data with the sensor monitoring device.
 22. The system of claim20, wherein the transmitting one or more signals to a portion of aregion to be monitored with one or more sensors includes: transmittingone or more lower-power signals to one or more sensors with a sensormonitoring device; and wherein the wirelessly transmitting one or moresensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according tothe sensing capability status of the at least one sensor includes:transmitting one or more higher-power signals to the one or more sensorswith the sensor monitoring device.
 23. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting one or more signals indicative of a presence ofa sensor within the portion of the region to be monitored to a sensormonitoring device.
 24. The system of claim 1, further comprising:providing one or more at least partially reflective elements configuredto direct one or more signals around one or more items disposed in aline-of-sight between a sensor and a sensor monitoring device.
 25. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising: wirelessly transmitting sensordata from the sensor to the sensor monitoring device in response to theone or more sensor operation activation signals.
 26. The system of claim1, further comprising: reconfiguring one or more sensing elementsaccording to the sensing capability status of the at least one sensor.27. The system of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a sensingoperation request.
 28. The system of claim 27, further comprising:receiving a sensing capability status notification in response to thesensing operation request.
 29. A system for communicating with one ormore sensors in an ad-hoc sensor network comprising: means for receivingone or more wireless signals indicating a sensing capability status ofat least one sensor; means for wirelessly transmitting one or moresensor operation activation signals to one or more sensors according tothe sensing capability status of the at least one sensor; and means forcausing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of theat least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices of theat least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals.
 30. A system for communicating with one or more sensors in anad-hoc sensor network comprising: circuitry for receiving one or morewireless signals indicating a sensing capability status of at least onesensor; circuitry for wirelessly transmitting one or more sensoroperation activation signals to one or more sensors according to thesensing capability status of the at least one sensor; and circuitry forcausing at least one of powering one or more sensing operations of theat least one sensor or charging one or more power storage devices of theat least one sensor via the one or more sensor operation activationsignals.